Local Sports

March 8, 2011

By

Jim Hopkins

BERNE — "We were very confident," stated Keith Cochran after Bluffton's incredible 80-68 win over perennial state power Bishop Luers in the championship game of the 2A South Adams Boys Basketball Sectional Monday night.
"We had a game plan. In fact, Coach (Kevin) Leising had a 15-page book covering everything we had to do to win this game, their strengths and weaknesses. We knew exactly what we were supposed to do, then went out and did it," added the 6-10 junior center, who lives in Decatur.

March 7, 2011

By

Jim Hopkins

The 16-year drought is over.
Norwell jumped out 10-0 and never let up, beating Peru 58-44 for the first Knights' boys sectional basketball crown since 1995. It was the first class sectional crown ever for Norwell.
"I know exactly win the last Norwell (sectional) championship was. It came my junior year," stated Norwell coach and former Bellmont standout Randy Hawkins, just after he cut down the net at the west end of the gym at Bellmont.

March 7, 2011

By

Joe Spaulding

Peru entered the semi-final game of the class 3A sectional at Bellmont Friday night playing hardly anything like the number one ranked team in the state that they were at the beginning of the season when they opened up with an 8-0 record.
Then again, Bellmont played hardly anything like a 4-17 team and battled with the Tigers until late in the game when Bellmont turnovers and Peru free throws made it a 47-36 Tiger victory.

March 4, 2011

By

Jim Hopkins

Though everyone involved has known about the conflict since Saturday, it was announced late Thursday afternoon that if Bishop Luers wins its game tonight with Adams Central in the semi-final round of the South Adams Boys 2A Basketball Sectional Tournament, then the championship game will be moved from Saturday to Monday because of the Luers' girls involvement in the Class 1A Girls State Basketball finals set for the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Saturday.
Game time would remain the same, 7:30 p.m.

March 4, 2011

By

Jim Hopkins

Very soon now, the old collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the billionaire owners in the NFL and the millionaire players will expire. I'm predicting there will be no NFL football in 2011, at least not with many players who participated in 2010.
The reason? It's simple: GREED!!

March 3, 2011

By

Jim Hopkins

With the clutch Bellmont performance in overtime Tuesday the Bellmont Braves not only broke a 14-game skid in 2011, but the squad also snapped a five-game sectional slide, which started with a 56-47 loss to Concordia in the opening game of the 2006 sectional.

March 3, 2011

The second round of the Class 2A sectional at the South Adams Stardome in Berne will be played on Friday, with four teams in action:
•At 6 p.m., Adams Central (13-7) will play Bishop Luers (16-4).
•After that game, Bluffton (14-6), which beat South Adams on Tuesday, will take on Woodlan (2-18).
Friday's winners will play for the sectional title at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

March 2, 2011

By

Joe Spaulding

The streak is over!
The Bellmont Braves dispatched a 14-game losing streak by the wayside Tuesday night in the opening round of the class 3A sectional 22 boys basketball tournament at the Teepee by outlasting Maconaquah, a team that entered the tourney with a 14-6 record, by a 59-57 count in overtime.

March 2, 2011

By

Jim Hopkins

BERNE — Bluffton built a 10-point lead over South Adams going into the fourth quarter of their Sectional 38 opener Tuesday, then Tigers' coach Kevin Leising pulled the plug as his squad successfully kept the ball away from the SA defenders in an eventual 50-31 victory at the Stardome.
The win puts the 14-6 Tigers in the 7:30 p.m. semi-final game against 2-18 Woodlan Friday night. Adams Central, 13-7, will take on state 2A power Bishop Luers, 16-4, in the 6 p.m. semi-final.

March 1, 2011

By

Eric Mann

Aaron McClure really likes basketball. He played it a lot as a youth, still plays a bit as an adult, and has been a coach for 10 years or more at his alma mater.
However, as much as Adams Central's head coach (and very good former Flying Jet) enjoys the game, he was stone-faced serious when he talked about AC's sectional matchup with powerful Bishop Luers, winner of two of the last three Indiana Class 2A championships.